Plaiter



Nov. 14, 1950 H. H. BELCHER PLAITER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 18, 1947 INVENTOR- WMBsZc/zer Nov. 14, 1950 H. H. BELCHER 2,529,991

PLAITER Filed June 18, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

Nov. 14, 1950 H. H. BELCHER PLAITER 3 Sheets-Sheeb-ZS Filed June 18, 1947 INVENTOR. ji fieZc/zer BY Wfi? Patented Nov. 14, 1950 PLAITER Harold H. Belcher, Orange, Mass., assignor to Rodney Hunt Machine Company, a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 18, 1947, Serial No. 755,276

4 Claims.

This invention relates to new and improved plaiting mechanisms.

In many textile processes, it is necessary to allow cloth to remain in storage for some length of time, and it is the usual custom to feed the cloth into storage chambers through plaiting mechanisms which fold the cloth back and forth in the chamber by means of an oscillating folder or plaiting device while the cloth is guided and folded and plaited at right angles to the swing of the folding or plaiting device by an oscillating cloth guide or poteye.

In the prior art such plaiting mechanisms have conventionally comprised a double threaded screw with a pawl engaging the thread of the screw with the poteye thereon so as to travel the cloth through the poteye back and forth the length of the plaiting device which is usually in the form of an elongated trough. Such an apparatus has been satisfactory heretofore because most storage chambers of this character have been operated at room temperature and the entire mechanism has been located, for example, above the storage chamber, but always in the open where it could be lubricated and serviced.

The above described prior art device is not, however, satisfactor with any newly developed processes of continuous bleaching, such processes involving holding cloth in storage for considerable lengths of time at temperatures close to the boiling point. The cloth may be heated by passing through steam tubes before it enters the storage chamber. The entire plaiting mechanism is enclosed and the atmosphere in the chamber is a steam atmosphere. Devices of the prior art as described above do not operate satisfactorily in this steam atmosphere because it is almost impossible to properly service and lubricate the mechanism especially the traverse screw and the bearings and journals therefor.

This invention provides a new and improved mechanism for plaiting the cloth wholly within a steam atmosphere in an enclosed chamber with all of the cloth traversing mechanism which has to be lubricated and serviced located completely exteriorly of the chamber; and the provision of a plaiting device of this nature in which the length of travel of the cloth guide or poteye may be easily adjusted, and also in which the speed cycle of travel of the cloth guide may be varied.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a device according to the present invention, shown diagrammatically;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 1, also shown diagrammatically;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of a modified form of plaiting mechanism according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the plaiting mechanism shown in Figure 3 I Figure 5 is an elevation of a modified form of connecting mechanism between the travelling poteye and its actuator.

As shown in Figs, 1 and 2, there is a storage chamber or the like It] into which the cloth is 'plaited, that is, the cloth is oscillated as it travels down as indicated in Fig. 2, by the oscillating plaiting mechanism such as the elongated trough l2 and, at the same time, the cloth is traveled from end to end of this trough as indicated by the two extreme positions of a cloth guide poteye M to fold or plait the cloth longitudinally of the plaiting trough 12. In this manner the cloth is piled up at the bottom of the storage chamber evenly from end to end thereof.

Adjacent the point where it enters the bonnet 22, the cloth 18 passes over a roll 15 which may serve as both a guide and feed roll and thence to a pair of feed rolls [6 or a single feed roll 44 as shown in Figure 4 may be provided to guide and feed the cloth string is from the poteye I4 to the oscillatin plaiting trough l2, and in the present case the cloth is traveled from end to end of these roll by means of an oscillating arm 20 which is located wholly within the steam chamber as, for instance, in a J box bonnet 22 which, of course, has open communication with the storage chamber In.

The arm 20 is secured to a shaft 24 which is substantiall perpendicular to the 'plane of roll I5 and upper roll [6 so that arm 20 oscillates v in a plane substantially tangent to the upper roll l6 and the poteye l4 moves longitudinally of the roll 16. The arm 20 is in the bonnet 22 and the shaft 24 extends exteriorly thereof through the wall of the bonnet or steam chamber 22 as clearly shown in Figure 2, and appropriate steam seals may be applied to this shaft so that all lubrication thereof is exterior of the entire housing. Means generally indicated at 26 may be provided to oscillate shaft 24 and this means also is located wholly exterior of the bonnet or steam chamber.

Appropriate power means such as a motor is indicated at 28 for the purpose of driving a shaft 30 in turn driving crank 32 to operate the oscillating plaiting trough; to rotate the rolls l6; and to operate other mechanisms which may be used in the dyeing or bleaching processes.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 5, inclusive, the reference numeral 34 indicates a J box from which the cloth may be withdrawn after storage in the bottom thereof as indicated at 36. The bonnet of the J box is indicated at 33 and it i to be understood that the entire chamber including the bonnet is the equivalent of an enclosed steam cham- 1 ber for the purpose of carrying out dyeing or bleaching or similar processes. The chamber including the bonnet 38 is enclosed to the extent necessary to retain steam at substantially atmospheric pressure. There may be some leakage of steam at the inlet and outlet ends of the apparatus but the bonnet 38 is sufiiciently enclosed to retain a steam atmosphere.

An elongated plaiting trough is shown at 40, this trough being oscillated by means of a crank 42 and a roll 44 guides and feeds a cloth string 56 to the trough All substantially as previously described. A poteye or other cloth guiding means 48 is disposed at the free end of an oscillating rod 50 secured to a shaft 52 extending into the chamber and through a wall thereof to the outside atmosphere. Shaft 52 may be journalled exteriorly of the chamber 38 and may be provided with a steam seal as at 54 so that no lubrication for this shaft is required except exteriorly of the chamber.

A bracket 56 may be utilized to hold and journal the shaft 52 and an arm 58 is secured to the shaft. Arm 58 is provided with a roller 60 received in the yoke 62 of a lever 64 mounted on a shaft 66 exteriorly of the chamber. A motor and reduction gear box 68 may be used to rotate a cam 10 having a tracklZ of appropriate shape receiving a roller M on the end of lever 64 opposite the yoke '62.

It will be seen that as cam 10 rotates, lever 66 isoscillated in turn oscillating arm 58, shaft 52, and arm 50, and it will also be seen that the shape of the cam determines the speed of travel of the poteye .48 .so that by altering the cam track 72 the speed may be varied to slow the delivery of the cloth at either or both ends of the roll 44 or vice versa.

Figure 5 illustrates one mechanism for adjusting the throw of the arm 50. In this mechanism the roller 60 is carried on a channel '76 which telescopes over the arm 58. The arm 58 is provided with a longitudinal slot 18 to receive a bolt 19. The effective length of the arm 58, which is the distance between the shaft 52 and roller 60,

may thus be varied by slidin the channel E6 on the arm 58 and fixed in selected position by the bolt 19., By this or equivalent means the cloth may be brought up to the extreme ends of roll 44 or may be more centrally located thereon as desired.

V In the operation of a continuous bleaching process in which my improved plaiter has an important application, the cloth l8 (Figures 1 and 2) receives its principal steam treatment in the steam tubes 80 and Si and steam enters the bonnet 22 with the cloth [8. The cloth i8 is plaited back and forth by the trough l2 and transversely by the poteye 14 as shown in Figure 1. The

plaited cloth is stored at the bottom of the J-box as indicated at 36 and is withdrawn from the short end of the J-box as indicated in Figure 4.

A steam atmosphere fills the entire J-box bonnet (indicated at 22 in Figure 2 and at 38 in Figure 4) the upper part of the vertical portion 4 of the J -box which is not filled with plaited cloth and some steam also penetrates at least the upper part of the plaited cloth stored in the lower, or storage, portion of the J-box. The bonnet and upper part of the vertical portion of the J-box, containing the poteye, guide and feed. rolls and the plaiting trough, is a steam chamber while the lower part of the J-box containing the plaited cloth is primarily a storage chamber. The steam chamber and storage chamber are not necessarily separate and distinct structures but may be different portions of a single chamber as clearly shown in Figure 4. In fact, at least that part of the J -box containing the upper layers of plaited cloth contains both steam and stored cloth so that it serves as both a steam chamber portion and a storage chamber portion.

It will be seen that the invention disclosed herein provides that all of the moving 'parts of the mechanism requiring lubrication are wholly outside of the steam chamber and are not subject to the steam and are in easy location for servicing. The length of the traverse of the poteye is adjustable so that the filling of the storage chamber may be made to the extreme ends thereof. The loading of the chamber can be varied by changing the shape of the cam and, of course, the cam can be shaped so as to give essentially constant speed to the poteye across the face of the roll 44. It is sometimes desirable to have this speed not exactly constant but, for instance, a little faster through the center of travel to slow down in the ends or vice versa.

All moving parts and mechanisms are out in the open where they can be examined, adjusted, and properly lubricated and where there is no difficulty in replacing parts when necessary.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In a plaiter for treating cloth with steam, walls forming a steam chamber, a shaft extending through said chamber, a plaiting trough carried by said shaft within said chamber, means located outside said chamber and engaging said shaft for oscillating said plaiting trough, a second shaft extending through said chamber above said plaiting trough, a feed roll mounted on said shaft within said chamber, means located outside said chamber and engaging said second shaft for rotating said feed roll, a third shaft extending into said chamber remote from and perpendicular to said feed roll, an arm secured at one end on said third shaft within said chamber and extending toward said feed roll, cloth guiding means on said arm adjacent said feed roll, a crank arm fixed to said third shaft outside said steam chamber, cam means rotatably mounted on the outside of said steam chamber, means, mounted on the outside of said steam chamber operatively inter-connecting said cam means and said crank arm whereby rotation of said cam means oscillates said crank arm, and means outside said steam chamber for rotating said cam means.

portion, an opening in said steam chamber remote from said storage chamber for :permitting the entry of cloth, a feed roll located in said steam chamber above said storage chamber for pulling cloth through said steam chamber and feeding it into said storage chamber, a guide movably mounted within said steam chamber between said opening and said feed roll for movement longitudinally of said feed roll, actuating means for said guide located entirely outside said chamber, means extending through said wall and operatively connecting said actuating means to said guide for moving said guide longitudinally relatively to said feed roll and means for varying the extent of movement of said guide by said actuating means.

4. A plaiter comprising wall means forming a storage chamber 'portion and a steam chamber portion connected to and in communication with the upper end of the storage chamber portion, said steam chamber portion having an opening remote from said storage chamber portion to permit the entry of cloth, a feed roll in said steam chamber portion above said storage chamber portion for moving cloth through said steam chamber portion into said storage chamber portion, a shaft extending through a wall of said steam chamber portion substantially perpendicular to the said feed roll, an arm secured at one end to said shaft within said steam chamber portion, cloth guiding means adjacent the other end of said arm between said opening and said feed roll, and actuating means outside said steam chamber portion operatively connected to said shaft for oscillating said shaft.

HAROLD H. BELCHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Vose Oct. 9, 

